Night diving with my new light. The UV setting is surprising

[lucca brassi]

Thx

 

[Pearlman]

A bit of googling suggests that UV LEDs are harmful. Moreover if you flash your UV torch into another divers eyes, the human is likely not going to experience a blink reflex increasing the potential for damage. Are we putting fellow divers at risk of medical issues by using them UW?

I am not sure - Does UV light have a detrimental health effect on undersea life?

P

 

[hilljo88]

There is some research that “blue” light rather than uv is safer and produces a more dramatic excitation response, resulting in glowing emissions. Here’s a shot using the sea dragon Fluoro dual blue light(455 nm) with a yellow filter. The filter is important to screen out the blue light “bounce” and just pick up the excitation response

 

[Diverdon]

View attachment 469713 There is some research that “blue” light rather than uv is safer and produces a more dramatic excitation response, resulting in glowing emissions. Here’s a shot using the sea dragon Fluoro dual blue light(455 nm) with a yellow filter. The filter is important to screen out the blue light “bounce” and just pick up the excitation response

Is it possible to use a blue light and filter system to excite objects that respond best to 365 nm? I reached out to OrcaTorch to see what wavelength the UV LEDs emit and am awaiting a response.

 

[Diverdon]

A bit of googling suggests that UV LEDs are harmful. Moreover if you flash your UV torch into another divers eyes, the human is likely not going to experience a blink reflex increasing the potential for damage. Are we putting fellow divers at risk of medical issues by using them UW?

I am not sure - Does UV light have a detrimental health effect on undersea life?

P

Good question. Personally I refrain from shining a light in a fellow divers eyes, but that's not to say it cannot happen accidentally. A little pre-dive communication is in order.

As far effects on sea life I am not aware. This is not a feature I will be using often. Besides crayfish and the occasional bass, I do not experience much in Lake Superior and do not see the use for it. Perhaps others will chime in but so far the crickets have it.

DD

 

[tursiops]

FYI, the definitive site for this stuff is NIGHTSEA - Practical Solutions for Fluorescence, especially the tab on resources. The person doing the site and most of the blog entries is Charlie Mazel, who is the scientist who pretty much invented fluorescent u/w work about two decades ago.

 

[Sbiriguda]

Bump
Thank you for posting this excellent resource by Charlie Mazel